


slip

by khayr



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: F/M, Friendship, Injured Inquisitor, caring for the inquisitor, coming home, sooner or later you gonna fuck up there lavellan lol
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-24
Updated: 2015-09-24
Packaged: 2018-04-23 05:24:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,701
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4864706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/khayr/pseuds/khayr
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Concussion, dislocated shoulder, two cracked ribs, a torn meniscus in the left knee,” she answered flatly, “The healer at camp was able to fix some of it.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	slip

There had been none of the usual fanfare when the Inquisitor returned from the Forbidden Oasis. In fact, the only reason Cullen had known they were arriving a week early was Leilana dropping by his office that morning with her jaw set hard and something unreadable in her face. She’d given him the update and gone on her way, and the Commander had spent the rest of the morning pacing the room in a fit of nervous energy.

By the time he finally spotted their approach it was all he could do to not run for the gates. He compromised, making his way to the stables to catch them before the group had time to untack and disperse.

He already knew something had gone awry to bring them back early. What he hadn’t expected was a bruised, limping Inquisitor leaning heavily on their resident Tevinter. There was exhaustion apparent in her posture and Cullen silently thanked the spymaster for allowing them a quiet return. Aela looked up as he stepped into the barn, a soft smile crossing her face despite her obvious discomfort. She didn’t flinch when he closed the distance between them, his hands coming to cup her face and smooth over the white ink tattooed there.

"What happened?"

"Aaah..."  
  
“Have the Red Templars gone that far west? Or did Corpyheus’ forces know you were coming?”

The memory was fuzzy at best, all flying sand and sharp pain. Aela had been hoping to rely on her companions to fill in the blanks since they had watched the event unfold from behind her, and now that she was finally, finally home in Skyhold the last thing she wanted was to grasp for threads of thought that weren't there. What little she did remember was vague, just sounds and sensations and pain. Her lack of an immediate response only seemed to distress Cullen more.

"She aah… fell." Varric offered, blessedly breaking the tense silence, "Hyena came down off the ledge we were passing. We didn't even see it until it was in the air. Took Sunshine here clean off the saddle before we could move."

"Popped the shoulder out on impact," Dorian added, gesturing to the sling holding her arm in place and ignoring the mortified look on Cullen’s face, "Probably also where the concussion came from." The mage shifted Aela’s arm from around his shoulders and carefully passed her off to Cullen. He wasted no time in simply scooping her off her feet, ignoring her quiet, half-hearted sound of protest. She knew she couldn’t walk up all the stairs.  
  
“You fell,” he repeated, as if speaking it out loud himself would make it any less ridiculous for the extent of her injuries, “You go halfway across Thedas to face off against dragons and magisters and the thing that brings you home early is a _wild dog_. You must be joking.”

“Cullen,” she laughed quietly, fingers twisting into the fur of his cloak. “I’m fine.” His eyes dipped to hers before he returned his attention to the rest of her party. The stables were not the proper place for this discussion. With a jerk of his head he beckoned the group to follow him into the castle.

“Leilana mentioned other injuries,” he started, humming quietly in his throat as Aela resigned to being carried and pressed her cheek against his shoulder. Cassandra skipped two stairs and fell into step beside him, allowing Varric time to slip away to seek out a healer when they finally reached the main hall.

“Concussion, dislocated shoulder, two cracked ribs, a torn meniscus in the left knee,” she answered flatly, “The healer at camp was able to fix some of it.”

“That sounds…” He paused while Cassandra opened the door to the Inquisitor’s chambers. “For a fall from the saddle that sounds excessive.”

“She didn’t just fall from the saddle.” Her blunt words felt like ice down his spine, and without Aela chiming in to soothe his overworked mind he only felt worse.

“Apparently,” Dorian cut in, “When you drop an ambush on a Dalish hunter it kicks their survival instinct into overdrive.” They reached the top of the stairs and Cullen finally let her down from his arms, brow furrowed as she limped past him to splay out across her bed with a soft sigh of relief. “She hit the ground and was on her feet before I even had a spell in hand. Leapt up and back, and then-”

“She missed the ledge.” The Seeker cut the story short, scrubbing her hands over her face as she stared across the room. “The drop-off was ten, maybe fifteen feet down. I am still not sure. Varric disposed of the creature and between Dorian and I we managed to get her out.”

That slick feeling of dread curled tighter in Cullen’s chest; if he had been there, if he-

“Don’t go on beating yourself up, Commander, it doesn’t suit you.” Dorian pulled him back into the present as he started rummaging around for healing supplies. “Even if you had been there, would it have gone differently? Probably not. It was a wild animal, not a soldier.”

“I know,” he ground out after a moment, “I know."

"I'm fine, for the record." A muffled voice came from the bed where Aela had settled with her face in the mattress. "We didn't need to come back early."

"You are concussed," Cassandra reminded her, stepping out of the way as Varric returned with a healer in tow, "That is not 'fine'." The elf huffed a laugh in response, righting herself so the healer could tend to her more easily. Despite her relaxed demeanor, there was still discomfort in her face.

"Minor detail."

"We leave for Halamshiral in two weeks, Lavellan. You need to be healed before we make such a public appearance." Dorian passed a healing potion to the her, eyes narrowing in mock anger as Aela crinkled her nose at it. "It's going to be hard enough with a _savage_ elf in our midst, let alone an injured one."

"I resent that, _shemlen_." Despite her words there was laughter in her tone. Cassandra frowned disapprovingly, arms folding over her chest.  
  
“You can stop pretending you are not in pain, Inquisitor,” she cut in, ignoring the way Cullen’s attention snapped to her, “The rest of us already know that Dorian boosted you into the saddle this morning when you couldn’t do it yourself.” Aela’s face fell, fingers twisting into a loose lock of hair as the medic began prodding at her knee. The corner of her mouth twitched when he dug into the side, betraying what Cassandra already knew to be true.   
  
“You might be able to fool everyone else, but don’t try to fool us. We’re far too clever for that.” Dorian gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze; he certainly didn’t blame her. She had enough unwanted attention on a day to day basis already.  
  
“Okay, okay, cut her some slack,” Varric cut in, waving off the disgruntled look Cassandra was giving him, “Let the medic do some work, let Sunshine catch some rest and we’ll all head back out in two weeks to be scrutinized by vicious, wicked Orlesian harpies.” He hardly sounded thrilled about that prospect, but it got his point across enough to clear the room until only the medic and Cullen remained.  
  
“Ice this tonight, and keep off of it as much as possible.” The surgeon turned her knee back one more time to double check the other side. “Tomorrow after you’ve gotten some sleep we’ll see to mending that meniscus a bit more and healing those ribs. The concussion you’ll have to just ride out. It’ll be bearable by the time you need to leave for Halamshiral, Inquisitor, but you should rest as much as possible.”  
  
“Got it,” she replied, offering him a reassuring smile, “I’ll have to arrange that with my advisors.” She shot a glance to Cullen and the medic took it as his cue to leave. Neither moved until the sound of the door closing could be heard from the bottom of the stairs, and finally Aela let out a long sigh as she flopped onto her back. The Commander came around to sit beside her at the edge of her bed, rubbing the back of his neck anxiously.  
  
“I’m…” He hesitated, and then let out a soft chuckle. “Maker’s breath I’m glad you’re back in Skyhold in one piece.” Aela cracked an eye open at him, a genuine grin creeping across her features. She’d missed him dearly while she was gone.  
  
“You’ll have to fend Josephine off from piling paperwork on me,” she murmured, patting the open space next to her until he laid back, “The doctor _clearly_ said relax. Relax means no tedious letters and treaties, mm?”  
  
“I think you’ll have to take that one up with her.” Cullen craned his neck to press his lips against her temple for a quick kiss. “Not getting between that woman and having her damned documents on time.” A soft giggle managed to sneak its way out from her, and for a moment after they laid side by side in comfortable quiet. Aela shifted, nestling her head into the crook of Cullen’s neck. It’d be far too easy to just drift off to sleep.  
  
She mumbled something in protest as he carefully sat up after a few minutes, cracking an eye open to watch him extract himself from her bed. “Hope you’re not going back to work already, Commander.”  
  
“No,” he chuckled, stretching his arms over his head with a soft pop, “I’m going to go draw you a bath and then go find something for you to eat.” Aela pulled herself up into a sitting position, fingers threading through her hair and haphazardly pushing it back out of her face. Now that he had said it, a bath and food sounded incredible right about now. She was road-weary beyond belief and hankering for comfortable sleep, not the one eye open approach she took when out in the field.  
  
“ _Ma serannas_ ,” she rumbled softly, testing her footing as she slid off the mattress and limped to his side, “I’m glad I'm home.”

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Drabble inspired by something that actually happened to me in game! I was riding along a ledge in the Forbidden Oasis and a hynea blindsided me (I didn't even see it on the minimap)- I hit leaping shot as soon as I was up but my inquisitor /just/ missed the ledge and fell down pretty far. It's stuff like that that ends up making fun stories and drabbles, so I hope you enjoyed it! Smooches to my bff sievish for proofreading for me!


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